To those who have decided to peripherally monitor this train to see of it goes off the rails, I feel obligated to inform you that I am not a same time every day writer. It comes when it comes and the schedule allows. I would love to be a same time every day AM writer. Alas, there are days when I am a PM writer, and even late night writer. (In fact, that is most days) Happy Scribing.

Jan. 17/18 - Days 78 & 79 – 513 words

Okay, folks, so, this is going to be a quick one. Just explaining a thing or two. I likened writing day 77 to pulling teeth from an unrestrained alligator. If that was the case (and it really wasn’t, cause I was exaggerating a bit) then Day 78 was like pulling gazelle teeth from the digesting meal of a lion. It was jagged writing up a steep climb. However, the job got done and that is what counts. The next day, Jan. 18th, Championship Football Sunday, I suppose I could have gotten in the writing day before the around 3pm start time of the football games. I didn’t. But, once the games started, I almost did. Seattle was behind in the fourth quarter and it appeared they were going to bite the dust. I said to myself, “This game is over,” and opened the Irony 3 document. Long story short, Seattle rallied and then came overtime. The rest is Irony 3 Novel Train rest stop history. That was so quick, Red guy didn't even have a chance to get a word in edgewi--"Happy writing people."

See Contact page for calendar blurb.

Jan. 19/20 – Day Double 40 & 81 – 1260 Words

Jan. 19, Day 80, 696 words. I typed that like I really needed to, seeing as how it is in bold type and underline highlighted above. Well, maybe the Day 80, because some may be super bad at math.“Super bad at math? Wouldn’t that mean they were good at it?”And away we go. Anyway, on to nitty gritty writing day that was Day 80. I was due for one, I really was. I was past due for one of those writing days where the words flowed like silk pixels onto the Word page. Day 77? Crocodile teeth. Day 78? Gazelle teeth from the belly of a lion. Day 80? Like visiting the dentist and having him tell you that you have no cavities.

I felt like that smooth Smokey Robinson song, Crusin’. “Baby let’s cruise…” Did I get to 696, instead of stopping at 500, because I was smoothly cruising along like Smokey? No, I would have still stopped at 500, cruising or not, if I weren’t coming to the end of what I thought would turn out to be a short Chapter 14. I thought it was the end, so I completed the scene I was writing, which led me to 696.

Jan. 20, Day 81, I was staring at the Chapter 15 heading, which was staring back at me, and considering what event should come next in my Journey toward the ending I had in mind. (Which may have experienced an overhaul today during a brainstorming session. We will see) All of a sudden, and that's the way stuff happens, doesn't it? All of a sudden? So, yeah, all of a sudden, some additional events to add to the end of chapter 14 came to me. I jotted them down and what happened next is what I feared, when the things that I jotted down, came to me to jot down. If you followed that, then you know that the jotted things did not come to 500 words.

“How in the name of Harry Potter were they supposed to know that?”I just told them.“But, you said--”Moving on. So, there I was, at about 300 or so words, the beginning of a new chapter, and thinking about leaving it for the next writing day. I may have, if I hadn’t done it just last week. I also may have done it, despite doing it last week, if I had absolutely no idea on how I wanted to begin the chapter. I had a vague one, ran with it, and jump started chapter 15 with its first 200 or so words. It took some pruning and rewriting to bring vague into focus, but the job got done. Happy, happy, joy, joy. 81 Days on the rails to date and the Irony 3 Novel Train is still billowing smoke. It's a beautiful thing. Happy writing people.

See calendar on Contact page for blurbs.

Jan. 21/22 – Days 82 & 83 – 1025 Words

This may just be the shortest update ever. I haven’t said anything before now, because I have just been dealing with it. No reason, I felt, to mention it. Obviously, that feeling has changed. Why? And what am I talking about? The why is to explain the possible short update, and also to have something to write about other than unrestrained crocodiles, and gazelle teeth in the bellies of lions. In fact, let’s just get away from teeth altogether. The what? For the last several days I have been sick as a dog! Sick as a dog? Hmmm. Where does that come from anyway? I could look it up, and then decide whether to believe whatever I found out on the internet. Or, I could just wonder why not sick as a cat? Llama? Dolphin? Bird? (Wait, yeah, bird, don’t they have their own flu now?) Or whatever other animal that comes to your mind as you are reading this.

If this is supposed to be so short, because I am blowing my nose and coughing up phlegm at a rate that makes me wonder if I have any fluids left in my body, then why am I still typing? Because, even when sick, my mind just goes off by itself sometimes, and I did kind of promise you that I would pretty much type down whatever pops into my head as I am penning these updates. So, there you go—Wait, what’s that? If I am so sick, how have I been writing? Here goes the honesty – with a fresh roll of TP by the computer, a designated phlegm receptacle until I have reached 500 words, an empty plastic bag for the used tissue, an almost constant cup of hot tea, with lemon and honey, and determination to get the job done.

I am in the midst of it and not on the downside, so we will see, moving forward, if I have to sick out of a few writing days. If I do, at least now you know why. I don’t anticipate it, because you take inspiration where you can get it, and I am taking it from getting the job done these last few days, despite how I have been feeling. Amd benieve ne, Di yam fnweelin bmad. lol. Happy writing people.

See calendar on Contact page for blurbs.

Jan. 23 - Day 84 – 501 Words

The Irony 3 Novel Train completes another week on the rails. Blowing through the towns of weeks 1-12, and entering the fresh town of 13th weekington. It’s a beautiful thing and I am happy to still be in the game. Okay, so last update I shared that I was sick as a dog. I also wondered about the phrase, ‘sick as a dog,’ and am still wondering, because wonder is a good thing to have sometimes. And, if I actually looked it up, I wouldn’t be able to think things like ‘sick as a dog’ originates from the latin, ‘sickodogificus,’ first ever heard uttered by Marcus Aurelius, during the Empire’s defeat of a revitalized Parthian Empire in the east.

Upon visiting the field of battle, Emporer Aurelius was asked what he thought of his troop’s victory. He perused the battlefield at the total domination of his army over the enemy and said, “That’s so sick, dog, I feel I could cus.” His general at the time, Avidius Cassius, not understanding the slang used at the higher courts of the empire, would later tell others that the emperor was ill. “He is sick as a dogificus,” he was heard uttering among the men under his command. So, you see? The origin of the phrase ‘sick as a dog’, as with other phrases throughout history, started as a misunderstanding between an emperor’s slang and his general’s square demeanor. The end.

Hey, you try and do better with a raw around the edges, overly blown, stuffed nose, while coughing up residual phlegm between sentences. I am on the downside of the cold, but it is still kicking part of my butt. With that said, I hope that story was enough for you, because I am done writing. If it wasn’t, feel free to click on the Poetic Shroud tab at the top of the page for a few quick, thought provoking, heartfelt reads. Happy writing people.

Join the sick jamboree, as week 12 week’s end jam is Natasha Bedingfield’s Unwritten. A tune I held close to my breast while writing my first book, Irony. See calendar on Contact page for blurbs.